Amazon Web Services helps users avoid bill shock with email alerts
Amazon Web Services users can now start receiving billing alerts that help them continuously monitor their cloud costs. One of the basic tenants of cloud services like those offered by Amazon is the pay-as-you-go model, where the eventual monthly bill will reflect actual usage. But when usage varies from hour to hour, it is always a good idea to log in to the AWS portal and check account activity on a regular basis.
Computer World UK

Samsung snags Beckham for Olympic running app
At the end of the day companies may be driven by creating the next best smartphone and securing some nice profits, but that doesn’t mean they don’t help out for good causes. Samsung has created the Hope Relay app encouraging users to walk, run, or cycle in order to help raise money for charity. The further you go, the more Samsung will donate to charity on your behalf, with £1 being donated for every mile travelled.
SlashGear

MasterCard unveils white-label digital wallet
The wallet launch is part of a bigger project to boost MasterCard's presence in the virtual space, and prepare it for the mobile and contactless 'revolution'. MasterCard said it would launch the wallet in Q3 in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. Unlike Visa, which is preparing to launch its V.me wallet shortly, Mastercard will let partners re-brand the wallet using their own names.
Mobile Entertainment

Apple drops '4G' from the iPad 3's international title
Several months back, we reported on the iPad 4G's inability to function in 4G outside of the US and Canada, with standards organisations from several governments making legal filings against Apple for its misleading advertising. It now seems that, rather than fighting a losing battle, Apple has opted to simply rename its iPad 4G once and for all, with, in several countries, the device now rather descriptively named the iPad Wi-Fi + Cellular. Lacking the appealing ring of '4G', we wonder, if at all, Apple's decision will have an impact on sales of the tablet.
Hexus

Scientists turn a virus into electricity
Scientists at the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have come up with a way to generate power using harmless everyday viruses.  The researchers have been working with a virus called M13 bacteriophage to convert mechanical energy into electricity, which they say one day could power gadgets such as smartphones from everyday movements such as walking.
TechEye

Facebook's App Center: the exciting bit is mobile
Last week Facebook announced that it would be creating its own version of an app store, aptly called the App Center. Facebook software engineer Aaron Brady made the announcement via the company’s blog, explaining that: “In the coming weeks, people will be able to access the App Center on the web and in the iOS and Android Facebook apps”. This will create a central place to find apps that use Facebook Open Graph, from Facebook.com or within the two most-popular mobile apps.
E consultancy

The Apple-Intel-Samsung ménage à trois
Fascinating doesn't do justice to the spectacle, nor to the stakes. Taken in pairs, these giants exchange fluids – products and billions of dollars – while fiercely fighting with their other half. Each company is the world's number one in its domain: Intel in microprocessors, Samsung in electronics, Apple in failure to fail as ordained by the sages.
The Guardian

Call of Duty Elite amasses 2m paying subscribers
As many as two million customers have signed up to the premium Call of Duty Elite subscription package, publisher Activision has claimed. It means that the online service will, at current rates, make about $100 million each year from the service. Customers pay $50 each year for Elite and in return receive all game DLC without additional charge, as well as various guides, stats and other online tools.
Develop

Virgin will be first airline to allow mobile usage in the air
Virgin Atlantic will be the first airline allowing you to use your phone in the air. The company has announced the technology will first be integrated into the company's Airbus A330 aircraft, and will let you take and receive phone calls while airbourne. The service provided by Aeromobile, will first enable passengers flying between New York and London to use their phones, with 10 other routes planned by the end of 2012.
Know Your Mobile

Still typing? You should be Swyping
The unexpected success of Southwark start-up Swiftkey at last week’s Webby awards — the Oscars of the internet — highlights a market of growing importance for tech watchers and consumers alike: virtual typing apps. Some phone buyers have long maintained they can never get used to typing on a touchscreen as quickly or accurately as they do with real keys. But with research suggesting that in four years 97 per cent of smartphones will at least feature a touchscreen, the task of making the best possible virtual typing system is an increasingly pressing one, and developers are rising to the challenge.  
Evening Standard

BlackBerry maker RIM hires new team to meet iPhone challenge
BlackBerry maker Research in Motion said on Tuesday that it had hired two new senior executives, including a marketing chief, as the company looks to regain market share lost to Apple's iPhone. RIM said Frank Boulben will be the new chief marketing officer, a job that new CEO Thorsten Heins described as critically important for the struggling Canadian company.
The Guardian

Clearwire says Qualcomm pact to help with wholesale deals
Clearwire Corp. Chief Executive Erik Prusch said he can make wholesale deals with the largest carriers such as AT&T Inc. after signing a deal with Qualcomm Inc. to provide chips that work with the company's high-speed wireless network.
Total Telecom

Kyocera unveils new smartphones and bone-conduction technology
The Japanese mobile manufacturer Kyocera, has been showing off its latest wares at the CTIA wireless show, including two Android smartphones and bone-conduction technology. The Hydro and the Rise are indistinguishable. Both run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, both use 3.5-inch HVGA capacitive LCD panels, both come running a 1GHz single core Qualcomm processor, sport 512MB of RAM and 2GB of ROM, both have microSD expandability up to 32GBs and both use a 3.2-megapixel camera with an LED flash and video capability at 30fps.
Recombu

T-Mobile USA signs up NSN and Ericsson for LTE rollout
Having received a swathe of AWS spectrum and $3bn cash from rival AT&T following the breakdown of a proposed merger, T-Mobile USA has signed agreements with Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks to support its $4bn network modernisation project, including the rollout of an LTE network.
Telecoms.com

Samsung reveals Galaxy S III Olympic Edition with Visa Paywave
Korean phone maker Samsung will release a limited edition Olympic Galaxy S III handset that will have Visa Paywave technology. Don't go getting too excited, though, as Visa has said that the 'mobile wallet' won't go on sale to the general public yet, as it will be made available only to sponsored Olympic athletes.
the INQUIRER

MasterCard introduces PayPass Wallet platform
It was only last week that we reported MasterCard had introduced a certification process for NFC-enabled smartphones, now the firm is really pressing forwards and has announced the availability of the PayPass Wallet service, which acts as an umbrella for what is now an entire platform.
Hexus

Advertising perfect spanks Virgin
Virgin Media must not claim it delivers "the UK's fastest broadband", the nation's advertising watchdog has judged. The cableco said it offered exactly that in a magazine ad published earlier this year. The ad invited punters to "get the edge in gaming" with Virgin's 50Mbps offering.
Reg Hardware

60m have registered for mobile money programmes
11 services have more than a million registered customers each. The GSMA's 2011 Global Mobile Money Adoption Survey quizzed 52 mobile money service providers across 35 countries and revealed that 60 million customers have registered for mobile money, 11 services account for 85 per cent of the registered customers and three of the eight fast-growing services identified are offered by operators with less than 25 per cent mobile market share in their country
Mobile Entertainment

NQ Mobile now has 172 million registered accounts!
172 million folk have opened accounts with consumer antivirus and security specialist, NQ Mobile. By way of context, this figure was 146 million back in December! They’re clearly doing very well indeed.
Mobile Industry Review

Charities criticise Apple for blocking donations
Apple has been criticised by charities for not allowing direct donations within its iPhone and iPad applications. The iPod-maker was condemned by leading charities for “preventing direct donation from apps”. The report, produced by The Big Society Network, said: “When considering the potential of giving powered by apps, the Apple app store’s policy was highlighted repeatedly as a barrier to significant uptake.”
The Daily Telegraph

Oracle-Google trial: both sides win, or lose, in the first round
Both sides lost, or arguably won, the first round of the Oracle-Google trial after the jury came to deadlock on a key question: was Google's use of Java to build its Android mobile operating system amount to "fair use"? Although the jury found in favour of Oracle, which has been demanding hundreds of millions of dollars in damages from Google, they could not agree on the key question. Google has called for a mistrial; if successful that would see the copyright portion of the trial re-run.
The Guardian

AT&T Regrets Offering Unlimited iPhone Data Plans
Randall Stephenson, AT&T's CEO, has admitted in a recent interview that the carrier didn't carefully consider the implications of offering an unlimited data plan for iPhone customers. If the carrier hadn't come up with this offer, maybe the revenue would have been substantially larger. By allowing heavy data usage on its networks for customers who pay fixed amounts, the carrier is essentially bleeding money. More disturbing for them is that non-frequent users are forced to subsidise the costs of others' unlimited plans, since the carrier needs to get money from someone.
ITProPortal

Facebook likely to be the fourth richest flotation in stock market history
The New York offices of stockbrokers JP Morgan flew a flag – with Facebook's familiar blue background and white logo – on Friday. Some onlookers were appalled that it was flying at the same height as the American flag beside it. But Facebook's status as an American icon is about to be cemented by its stock market offering. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and chief executive, and other executives, began their "roadshow" on Monday to persuade institutional investors to buy shares before the flotation.The flag-flying JP Morgan is one of the underwriters, along with Goldman Sachs, with Morgan Stanley in the lead, of the initial public offering. It should not be too hard a sell. Hundreds of investors lined up outside New York's Sheraton Hotel yesterday to hear Zuckerberg set out the case for buying shares in Facebook's initial public offering (IPO) which has been eagerly awaited for months. Some 338m shares are being sold off at a price between $28 and $35 – which would raise between $9.4bn (£5.8bn) and $11.8bn in ready cash and potentially value the company at up to $100bn.
The Guardian

Google's app sales to go through 15 billion mark
Google will tomorrow hit a major milestone in app downloads from its site. It has sold 15 billion apps from its Google Play Store (formerly Android Market) – hot on the heels of Apple's App Store which reached 25 billion apps in March. Google's growth is now outpacing Apple. Last month Fiksu, the maker of a mobile marketing platform for apps, revealed downloads from Apple's App Store fell by 30 per cent in March.
The Independent

Indian based IT service providers grow
The top five Indian based IT service providers are continuing to grow. According to a report by Gartner the companies grew 23.8 percent in 2011, compared to the 7.7 percent of growth for the whole global market. TCS came out on top with a 2011 market share of 1.1 percent, saw a 2010-2011 growth rate of 29.4 percent and a revenue of $9031 million.
Tech Eye

Hong Kong turns factories into datacentres to fuel cloud growth
An innovative approach to datacentre development is helping to see off Hong Kong’s competitors and establish it as the number one cloud computing hub in Asia, according to the government CIO, Daniel Lai. Speaking to The Reg at the 13th annual Info-Security Conference in Hong Kong, Lai dismissed suggestions that Special Administrative Region (SAR) could be usurped by close rival Singapore as a technology centre for the region.“Hong Kong has always had a very laissez-faire open market approach and there are a lot of advantages in its location, as the front-end for mainland China and as a financial and trading hub,” he gushed.
The Register

Angry Birds creator posts £42m annual profit
Finnish game developer Rovio, the masterminds behind the ridiculously popular Angry Birds, today posted an annual profit of £42m.In a blog post, the Angry Birds creator reported 2011 revenues of $106.3m (£65.8m) and earnings before tax of $67.6 (£42m), which the firm claims demonstrates the contining success of Angry Birds as a brand. During this time, the development firm reported more than 648m downloads of its multi-platform app and had more than 200m monthly active users."The strong growth in revenue clearly demonstrates the popularity of the Angry Birds brand", said Rovio CEO Mikael Hed.
The Inquirer

HBO Go Now Supports Android 4.0 Phones
HBO announced a few days ago that the app available on Google Play will now deliver extended support for Android devices. For the overly optimistic Android fans, we should say upfront that the tablets are not included in this offer. HBO GO and HBO MAX GO, both free apps, have been updated to offer support for Android phones running the Ice Cream Sandwich platform. The updates also include "performance enhancements and bug fixes."
ITProPortal

Groupon CEO plans to 'reinvent local commerce ecosystem'
In an open letter to shareholders Groupon CEO Andrew Mason has outlined plans to take the firm into local ecommerce services with a series of products designed to expand beyond its core business. "Groupon is setting out to reinvent the multi-trillion-dollar local commerce ecosystem. We are building an integrated suite of tools and services that we believe will profoundly change the way we shop locally," he wrote. "Today, Groupon is a marketing tool that connects consumers and merchants. Tomorrow, we aim to move upstream and serve as the entry point for local transactions." Groupon wants to become the operating system for ecommerce he said, and would be relying on technology currently under development to do it. The company's SmartDeals software, which does a better job of targeting ads, was showing a 50 per cent improvement in sales during limited trials and would be rolled out to all customers this year to bolster the existing customer base, and there'll be a greater emphasis on mobile offers.
The Register

T-Mobile boosts HSPA+ and grabs LTE kit; iPhone support this year
T-Mobile USA has announced the next phase of its 4G drive, with broader roll-out of HSPA+ 42Mbps service and new partners for its 2013 LTE network. The carrier has inked deals with Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks – both mainstays in the 4G industry – to LTE-capable kit at 37,000 cell sites across T-Mobile’s 4G network, boosting signal quality and enhancing performance beginning in 2012. Meanwhile, T-Mobile has also seen more than 1m users sign up to the VoIP service, with each user making over ten calls on average. In fact, over 10m calls have been made on Bobsled since April 2011. Interestingly, 80-percent of calls originate from outside of the US – suggesting international users or US users traveling – and 95-percent of the total user-base for Bobsled are non-T-Mobile subscribers. As for Bobsled Messaging, users of the IM service are “predominantly” US based, T-Mobile says, with 95-percent of messages sent domestically within the US.
Slash Gear

Disney World employees to use Apple iPads for new FastPass system
Disney World employees have been given iPads to carry around the theme parks as part of a new FastPass system, which uses RFID technology to send visitor information to Apple’s tablet. 9to5Mac reports that Disney World ‘Cast Members’ began training on the new system on Tuesday. During the pilot program, guests who have signed up prior to their trip will help Disney test the new FastPass system.
Tech World

Mobile operators announce Samsung Galaxy S III pricing in the UK
The much hyped Samsung Galaxy S III is finally out, and UK mobile operators have promptly announced that they will be offering the smartphone. Following last night's London launch, which The INQUIRER attended, the mobile networks O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Three and Vodafone have all announced that they will be selling the handset, leaving Virgin Media as the only mobile operator yet to jump on the Galaxy S III bandwagon.
The Inquirer

Thomson Reuters offers EU commitments to end antitrust probe
Thomson Reuters has offered “additional commitments” to European antitrust authorities in an effort to end an antitrust probe. The company had offered promises to changes in its business practices in December 2011, but competitors had demanded more. A spokesperson for the European Commission confirmed to Reuters the executive body had received “new proposals for commitments” from the company. Thomson Reuters offers among other thing news wires for media groups and real-time market and business data for financial institutions.
ZDNet UK

Handset vendors face 'brutal fight' for China's low-end smartphone market
As China leads the world in smartphone shipments, top handset vendors are raising their stakes in the nation, and will likely bring more exclusive products and lower-end devices to the market, resulting in fierce competition, according to analysts. Several research firms are reporting that China has surpassed the U.S. in smartphone shipments or sales, with some of them seeing the trend since last year's third quarter.
PC Advisor

O2 to serve up free Wi-Fi to coffee chain
O2 is to equip the Costa chain of coffee shops with free Wi-Fi. But the cellco said the service, which is gratis no matter what mobile operator you use, is limited to 30 minutes' access. Costa said that's typically how much time punters spend over their lattes and pain aux raisins, but folk who want to surf for longer can get free unlimited access if they sign up for Costa's Coffee Club, the chain's free-to-join collect-points-for-free-drinks loyalty scheme.
Reg Hardware

BT and Cisco refute claims that Olympics will not benefit economy
Technology partners for the London 2012 Olympic Games, BT and Cisco, have hit back at a Moody’s report that claimed that the event this summer will have a mainly negative impact on the UK’s economy. The report, covered in the Financial Times, argued that the £6.1 billion that has been invested to make the Games happen has been filtered through the UK economy over several years and the only sector that is likely to see any gains will be the hotel sector.
Computer World

Android variant handset shipments to grow 53 per cent in China
Google's open approach to Android's source code has led OEMs to develop their own flavours of the OS - much to the exasperation of fragmentation-weary developers. According to Digitimes, these variant devices are accelerating fast in China as local vendors seek to differentiate themselves in an ultra-competitive market.
Mobile Entertainment

Facebook Valued At £59bn Ahead Of Floatation
Social media innovator Facebook has announced a stock market floatation valued at up to $95bn (£59bn), making firm founder Mark Zuckerberg worth around £11bn. The company that turned the online socialising into a cultural phenomenon has disclosed that its share price range will be $28 to $35 per share in its initial public offering (IPO), on May 18. Facebook's IPO will be the biggest ever for an internet company, towering over the previous internet launch record set by Google at $23bn (£14.2bn) in 2004 - the search giant is now valued at about $200bn (£124bn).
Sky News

Investors are pouring funds into big data
Surging enterprise demand for tools that can manipulate and analyse massive volumes of structured and unstructured data has caught investor attention in a big way. Top venture and growth capital firms in recent months have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into companies selling the so-called "big data" technologies. Venture capital firm Accel Partners has even established a $100 million fund to finance the early stages and growth of big data companies.
Computer World

RNIB unlocks power of Freeview+ for blind people
The Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) has announced new technology that will enable blind and partially sighted people to independently record programmes and pause live TV on Freeview+. The charity has designed a new text-to-speech service, utilising technology from IVONA, that will be made available on the TVonics DTR-HD500 Freeview+ HD receiver.  
Digital Spy

HP steals Apple's crown to lead the global personal computer market again
Maker of expensive printer ink HP, has overtaken Apple as the global personal computer market leader again, a report by analyst outfit Canalys has revealed. HP managed to steal Apple's crown, knocking it off the PC sales throne and regaining the lead in the first quarter of 2012, selling 40,000 more units than Apple's 15.8 million.
the INQUIRER

Pirate Bay cut off from millions of Virgin Media customers
More than four million subscribers were cut off from www.thepiratebay.se on Wednesday evening.
Virgin Media was one of five major broadband firms ordered to block the website on Monday after an application to the High Court by the BPI, a record industry trade body. The Pirate Bay, based in Sweden, offers an index of millions of copyright songs, films and TV shows to download from other users via the BitTorrent file sharing protocol.
The Daily Telegraph

Everything Everywhere rues impact of MTR cuts
Everything Everywhere, the company formed by the merger of Orange and T-Mobile in the UK, has posted a drop in service revenue of 2.5 per cent to fall to £1.5bn in its first quarter earnings statement. The firm blamed the drop on the impact of regulated mobile termination rate (MTR) cuts. Last year, the UK’s Competition Commission decided to increase the speed at which mobile termination rates must fall, from 4 pence per minute to just 0.65 pence per minute by 1 April 2014. It said that, excluding the impact of these cuts, revenue would have grown by 2.9 per cent.
Telecoms.com

Louise Mensch: troll abuse 'not Twitter's fault'
Louise Mensch, the Tory MP, has said Twitter is not to blame for a stream of sexist abuse she received from internet trolls on the social media site. The insults, which included sexist name calling and even threats of violence, provoked outrage from supporters who leapt to her defence. However, Mrs Mensch has insisted that Twitter should not be pilloried over the “misogynistic” abuse, claiming users must take more responsibility over their language.
The Daily Telegraph

ASA forces Apple to withdraw claims new iPad has '4G capability'
Apple has been forced by the Advertising Standards Authority to withdraw claims in the UK that its new iPad has "4G capability" to join high-speed mobile broadband services – because there will be no services compatible with the device here. The UK joins Australia in banning the use of the "4G" label to advertise the new iPad, launched in January. The circuitry inside the device can connect to 4G services in the US, which is Apple's largest market, but because those operate on different frequencies from those used in the UK and Europe, the "4G" iPads presently on sale will never be able to connect to 4G networks here.
The Guardian

Oracle refuses to bury the hatchet with HP
Oracle has ruled out a settlement with HP, over the Itanium microprocessor. According to Reuters, Oracle attorney Dan Wall said a settlement of the lawsuit "isn't going to happen." HP wants $4 billion in lost profit damages over Oracle pulled support for Itanium, while Oracle argues that HP's claims are meritless.
TechEye

Nokia launches patent lawsuits
Nokia has accused a number of companies of infringing several of its patents. The telecoms giant has filed claims in Germany and the US that products from HTC, RIM and Viewsonic effectively amount to the "unauthorised use of our proprietary innovations". The complaints involve some 45 of Nokia's patents, with the firm reporting HTC to the US International Trade Commission, while cases have also been put to the federal district court of Delaware against HTC and Viewsonic.
European Communications

SFR appoints Vodafone Europe’s CEO
French operator SFR has appointed Vodafone Europe’s head honcho Michel Combes as its CEO. Combes, currently CEO at Vodafone Europe and director of Vodafone Plc, will join SFR in August and brings with him experience and knowledge of the French telecoms market, having previously served as CEO of French media and telecoms conglomerate TDF and as CFO at France Telecom.
Telecoms.com

Digital bionic eye lets blind man see again
A blind man has had a bionic eye implant that gives him rudimentary vision. Chris James, who had been totally blind for more than 20 years, is the first British patient to be fitted with a digital chip similar to those used in mobile phone cameras. Sky News was present during the operation and, later, when the chip was switched on. Chris is able to see a rough outline of simple shapes. Doctors believe that in time - as his brain 'learns' to see again - he could recognise faces.
Sky News

China is the world's largest smartphone market
The hunger for smartphones among China's citizens has been relentless in recent months, demonstrated by the 146 million devices shipped in Q1, which allowed the country to overtake the US, according to research firm Canalys. China's shipments increased by 45 per cent year-on-year, driving the APAC to an overall 81 per cent rise, which significantly outstrips America's five per cent rise.
MobileEntertainment

Facebook IPO set for 18 May
Facebook shares will float on the US stock market on Friday 18 May, with a "roadshow" for the company's enthusiastically-awaited initial public offering to begin next Monday including its founder Mark Zuckerberg, according to Silicon Valley sources. The eight-year-old social network, with 900 million users worldwide, is expected to have a valuation of around $100bn (£61.6bn) and is the most eagerly awaited flotation since Google's in 2004. It is expected to raise $5bn through its share offering.
The Guardian

Cyber criminals take $10,000 a day from Apple users
The cyber criminals who hit on the wizard wheeze of targeting the faith based security system of Apple into a botnet are coining in $10,000 a day, according to anti-virus experts at Symantec. The money is created by picking Google's pocket by hijacking advertising "clicks". Symantec said a component of the widespread Flashback virus targets Google search queries made using Chrome, Safari, or Firefox browsers and directs people to pages dictated by the hackers.
TechEye

EU telcos warm to P2MP microwave backhaul
European operators are warming to point-to-multipoint microwave backhaul, but the bulk of business still comes from carriers in the Middle East and Africa, a senior executive at Cambridge Broadband Networks says. Lance Hiley, vice president of marketing, told TelecomsEMEA.net the firm now has three tier one European carriers on its books, after six years of mostly selling to MEA operators. The change is happening because European operators now regard the firm’s technology as mature, and are beginning to realize they can’t rely on fiber alone to handle backhaul.
TelecomsEMEA

Microsoft Xbox faces potential ban over Motorola patent infringement
Motorola Mobility has won an injunction against Microsoft potentially banning sales of the Xbox 360 games console and Windows 7 operating system over patent infringement claims. A court in Mannheim, Germany, found Microsoft had infringed two Motorola patents dating back to the early 1990s and relating to the H.264 compression standard. They describe a way of reducing the size of video files that is used very widely, including by YouTube and on Blu-ray discs.
The Daily Telegraph

iPhone sales could reach 35 million in china in 2013
Apple could do well, in the biggest nation on Earth. Recent reports have pointed out that China, an under-served Apple market, will help the company boost its business. Apart from the enthusiasm of Chinese users for Apple devices, Chinese mobile phone networks have a huge subscriber base. Every month, 10 to 12 million new users subscribe to China's 3G networks, and some of them could be easily convinced to buy an iPhone. Chris Whitmore of Deutsche Bank, had the most pessimistic prediction about Apple's sales, in the last quarter.
ITProPortal

Frustrated advertisers to Facebook: Take our money please!
With a reach approaching 15 percent of the world's population, Facebook is a thriving media business. In the last quarter alone, it raked in more $1 billion in revenue, almost entirely from advertising. But to hear some people at big ad agencies talk, it could be a whole lot more. And that's the double-edge sword hanging over Facebook these days for the company has become a victim of its own success. It's automating its process and using technology to increase efficiency. But that's not the same as dealing with a human being; big advertisers are a needy bunch who want hand-holding. However, plenty say they can't even find anyone at Facebook to take their calls -- or their money.
CNET

Microsoft deal raises stakes in e-book war
Microsoft has secured a deal with US book giant Barnes & Noble in an attempt to take on rivals Amazon and Apple in the electronic books market. The two companies are teaming up to create a subsidiary for Barnes & Noble's e-book and college textbook businesses, including its Nook tablet, with Microsoft paying $300m (£185m) for a minority stake. The venture, which is yet to be named, should enable the world's biggest software group to grab a bigger share of the rapidly growing market for electronic books, currently dominated by Amazon's popular Kindle tablet and ebook reader, as well as the Apple iPad.
Sky News

Swisscom SMS revenue falls 28 per cent in face of "IP substitution”
Swisscom has reported that "substitution by IP-based applications and the growing use of social media platforms" led to a 28 per cent fall in revenue from directly billed SMS messages during the first quarter of 2012. Over the same period, the average price per megabyte that Swisscom realised from customers fell by 25 per cent. That combination led to a fall in average revenue per mobile user per month of 4.3 per cent to CHF44.
MobileEurope

YouTube accounts for 25 per cent of mobile network traffic
Networking equipment expert Sandvine has released its latest internet traffic report, which shows the prevalence to video streaming to mobiles, and the popularity of YouTube in particular. Sandvine's Global Internet Phenomena Report is compiled using data drawn from 200 plus customers worldwide, and it found that in North America, video and audio streaming make up over half of mobile data traffic. The leading streaming sources were Pandora, Netflix and YouTube.
ITProPortal

RIM shares take a bath after uninspiring BlackBerry 10 unwrap
Investors were less than impressed with Research in Motion's demo of its new BlackBerry 10 operating system and the developer tools to go with it, sending shares sliding by 5.76 per cent. New CEO Thorsten Heins pulled out the new gear at his first BlackBerry World keynote speech yesterday, giving folks a look at what the OS should be able to do. The start of the conference also marked the release of the developer kit for the system so app-makers can start have some snazzy stuff ready by the time the first handsets come out at the end of the year.
The Register

Google may face UK inquiry over Street View data collection
Google could face a police investigation in the UK and Europe after documents released in the US show that it intended to collect internet data as it compiled photos for its Street View service around the world. The search giant had previously claimed it mistakenly collected the data between May 2007 and 2010, including website details, user names and passwords, but did not intend to use it. However, the text of an investigation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) – which fined Google $25,000 (£15,400) for the unauthorised data collection between May 2007 and May 2010 – shows the engineer who designed the software specifically intended to collect and analyse the data, with a view to including it in future Google products.
The Guardian

Middle East operators facing problems over LTE spectrum, devices and pricing
Within the past year, four Middle East operators have launched LTE: Etisalat in the UAE; and all three of the mobile operators in Saudi Arabia – STC, Mobily and Zain. But it is still early days for LTE in the Middle East. Although none of the operators will reveal their LTE subscription numbers, the indications at the LTE MENA conference, which was put on by Informa Telcoms & Media in Dubai on April 29-30, were that the number of LTE subscriptions in the region is still only in the low thousands.
Telecoms.com

Hitachi-LG sales manager agrees prison time in US price fixing probe
An executive of Hitachi-LG Data Storage (HLDS) will serve prison time in the US for participating in rigging bids for the sale of optical drives. The US Department of Justice (DoJ) brought a criminal case against Woo Jin Yang, also known as Eugene Yang, who was a senior sales manager at HLDS, alleging he conspired with others to "suppress and eliminate" competition by rigging bids for optical drives to HP. Yang has entered a plea to spend six months in the clink, pay a $25,000 fine and cooperate with the DoJ in its ongoing investigation.
The Inquirer

EU telcos warm to P2MP microwave backhaul
European operators are warming to point-to-multipoint microwave backhaul, but the bulk of business still comes from carriers in the Middle East and Africa, a senior executive at Cambridge Broadband Networks says. Lance Hiley, vice president of marketing, told TelecomsEMEA.net the firm now has three tier one European carriers on its books, after six years of mostly selling to MEA operators. The change is happening because European operators now regard the firm’s technology as mature, and are beginning to realize they can’t rely on fiber alone to handle backhaul.
Telecoms EMEA

Terra to sell online films in Telefonica home market
Spanish incumbent's music and film streaming service to launch in Portugal later this year. Telefonica SA's Terra unit plans to introduce its Sonora online music service in Spain by the end of May and its SundayTV film site in the fourth quarter, Bloomberg News reported Monday on its website, citing a person with knowledge of the matter.
Total Telecom

BlackBerry Music Gateway connects via NFC
RIM has unveiled the BlackBerry Music Gateway, a second stab at allowing BlackBerry Users to stream music to another device.This time the new device connects to BlackBerry devices via NFC rather than Bluetooth, turning their phone or PlayBook into a remote control enabling wireless music to be played. The music accessory was demoed at the BlackBerry Solutions Showcase in Orlando, the precursor to BlackBerry World. Pocket-lint was in attendance and got to see the device first hand.
Pocket-lint

New iPad 4G claims scrutinised in UK
Apple has come under fire from an Australian watchdog agency over its use of the term “4G” on the new iPad, and it looks like the UK isn’t taking too kindly to it either. The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has started to widen its investigation into the advertising of the new iPad and, according to the BBC, isn’t satisfied that Apple has modified its claims over 4G capabilities. There’s no 4G LTE access in the United Kingdom right now, and no operators try to classify their HSPA services as 4G either, unlike AT&T. Even when LTE does begin its rollout in the UK, the chip onboard the new iPad won’t work with the service due to different bands being used. As a result, the ASA says it receives “dozens” of complaints relating to the use of the 4G term.
Slash Gear

Skype investigates tool that reveals users' last known IP addresses
Skype said Tuesday it is investigating a new tool that collects a person's last known IP address, a potential privacy-compromising issue. Instructions posted on Pastebin on Thursday showed how a person's IP address could be shown without adding the targeted user as a contact by looking at the person's general information and log files. Skype, which is owned by Microsoft, said that "this is an ongoing, industry-wide issue faced by all peer-to-peer software companies. We are committed to the safety and security of our customers and we are taking measures to help protect them".
Tech World

Google Wave Officially Closes Today
Despite being one of the largest tech companies in the world, it appears that even the mighty fall - and in the case of Google, today sees the firm officially close down its social networking service, Google Wave. Opened in great anticipation back on 27th May 2009, a lot was riding on Google's exciting new product - and with users queuing to request a look-in through its invite-only function, it looked set to be the biggest thing since social networking sliced bread.  However, the ripple effect it so desperately needed failed to make much of an impact, and became less of a wave and more of a drop in the ocean.
IT Pro Portal

Visa m-wallet to launch in autumn
Financial services firm Visa Europe has said it will launch the V.me digital wallet on a controlled basis in the UK, France and Spain in the autumn of 2012. The service will be made available through Visa’s member banks and will initially be accessed through the web browser on a PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. The wallet will ultimately act as a container for multiple payment technologies, including virtual credit cards. Consumers will be able to put multiple cards into the wallet as well as technologies to make payments face-to-face, online or in a mobile environment.
Telecoms.com

Everything Everywhere campaigns for 4G approval
UK operator Everything Everywhere is campaigning for permission to launch 4G services before its domestic competitors. To support its plea to regulator Ofcom, the operator has commissioned research that outlines the “significant economic and social benefits” that will come about by bringing 4G to the UK. According to the research, conducted by macroeconomic research consultancy Capital Economics, 4G rollout will attract £5.5bn private investment into the UK economy, create or safeguard 125,000 jobs and add 0.5 per cent to the country’s GDP – the equivalent to £75bn today – by the end of the decade. In addition, 4G will provide access to mobile superfast broadband to at least 10 million people who won’t be able to get fixed line superfast broadband before 2020, the research claims.
Telecoms.com

Nokia still has a patent business
Nokia may have been dethroned in handset sales supremacy but in terms of reaping in royalties, the vendor continues on a sweet ride. According to Nokia’s Q1 results for 2012, the vendor estimates that the current annual IPR royalty under its smart phone and mobile devices business unit income run-rate is approximately €0.5 billion. It is unclear how much if these royalties are coming directly from the ongoing spoils of Nokia’s victory with Apple last June, but it would be assumed the lion’s share would be Apple derived.
The Register

Apple in talks with Epix on movie streaming
Discussions reportedly focused on delivering content to gadget giant's set-top box, upcoming devices. Apple Inc. is in talks to stream movies from the studios that own the Epix cable channel, Reuters reported Friday, citing people with knowledge of the situation. The talks centre on streaming through Apple's set-top box, as well as other upcoming devices, which would include a much-anticipated television set, according to Reuters.
Total Telecom

LG throws hat into cloud storage ring
Korean firm follows Google, Apple and others with LG Cloud, offering 50GB of free storage to existing LG customers LG has launched LG Cloud, a service which facilitates online sharing of content and files between TVs, smartphones, PCs and tablets. Anyone can grab 5GB of space, but existing LG TV or smartphone owners will get a whopping 50GB of room for videos, files, or whatever else they choose to throw up to the cloud. For six months, anyway.
T3

LightSquared sacrifices director to save LTE scheme
Beleaguered would-be 4G carrier LightSquared could eke out an extension on its financing, if outspoken director Philip Falcone agrees to step down and concede to anti-bankruptcy provisions. LightSquared faces the expiration of a debt-terms violations waiver later today, but according to insiders whispering to the WSJ could extend that for a week if Falcone drops out of public sight. However, Falcone’s presence isn’t the only aspect worrying investors: there are also concerns that he could push for bankruptcy and leave lenders with nothing. hose fears have supposedly prompted a complex settlement that would give LightSquared’s board space to renegotiate financing but also minimise risk for lenders. Falcone would “eventually step down” from his position as director, and would no longer be permitted to serve as an officer of LightSquared; instead, an independent board would be brought in, on which Falcone could not sit.
Slash Gear

Next big thing – Microsoft HomeOS
I can buy a Microsoft house? Stop flashing your cash – HomeOS, Microsoft's "operating system for the home," is still firmly in the testing phase. But we're still jumping up and down in anticipation of the day we can set our Xbox 360 to load up Mass Effect 3 the second we walk in the door. Will I need one of those WinPho things? It doesn't look like Microsoft Research has rewired Windows to talk to your light switches – but we wouldn't be surprised if HomeOS was built on top of a Windows kernel. And you won't be locked down to one ecosystem – the plan is to support all the gadgets you already own.
Stuff

Google KNEW Street View cars were slurping Wi-Fi
Google knew its Street View cars were slurping personal data from private Wi-Fi routers for three years before the story broke in April 2010. When the revelations were made, Google said its map service's cars were merely collecting SSIDs and MAC addresses. The following month, it said network data had been captured, but this was the work of one engineer. Six months later Google conceded that payload data, including emails and passwords, was recorded by the roving photo-motors – but still blamed a rogue engineer.
The Register

LG Optimus True HD LTE rolling out across Europe
LG is expanding its LTE smartphone portfolio with the launch of the LG Optimus True HD LTE P936 across Europe. The manufacturer will soon begin shipping the device to Germany, Portugal and Sweden as well as Hong Kong and Singapore, having already launched the high definition handset in Korea, Japan, Canada and the US. The LG Optimus True HD LTE sports a 4.5-inch 1280 x 720 (16:9 ratio) True HD IPS touch-display, runs on a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and packs an eight-megapixel camera.
Pocket-lint

Zynga reports boost in active users
With Q1 figures in, Zynga boasts gains in number of active users in all categories, bringing revenues to a record high of $321 million. Zynga aquired OMG POP's Draw Something in March for $180 million, an app which boasted over fifty million downloads in its first fifty days after launch. According to Zynga, the company attracted 292 million monthly active users this quarter, an increase of 24 percent from last year's figure of 236 million.
Develop

Rumours point to Spotify Radio launch
Music streaming giant Spotify is rumoured to be considering a move into internet radio, offering a cut-price service designed to take on the likes of Pandora and Rdio in the US. According to unnamed sources "with knowledge of the situation" speaking to Bloomberg, Spotify's plan is to bolster its existing streaming service with a radio-like version on which users can select genres but not individual songs. Although the Spotify client software currently has a similar feature, it allows users to search for and play particular albums or individual songs - a feature which bumps up the licensing fees Spotify needs to pay the rights holders.
Expert Reviews

Linkedin finally arrives on the Apple Ipad
Business social networking web site Linkedin has finally released an Ipad app, two years after arriving on the Iphone. Linkedin has revealed that 22 per cent of its traffic comes to the web site from mobile devices, no doubt spurring the decision to release an Ipad optimised app. Previously users of the career tracking network have had to make do with a scaled-up version of its Iphone app, which doesn't look great on the large screened device.
The Inquirer

China Telecom Q1 net profit falls 6.5% on rising expenses
China Telecom Corp.'s unaudited first-quarter net profit fell 6.5% from a year earlier on rising expenses, making it the only one of China's three major telecommunications providers to post a fall in net profit during the three-month period. Although China's largest fixed-line telecom operator by subscribers had the least number of third-generation mobile subscriptions compared to its rivals and faces stiff competition in the country's increasingly saturated mobile market, it was cheered by growth in its more profitable mobile business.
Total Telecom

Motorola confirms Razr Maxx is UK bound
Motorola has announced that its Razr Maxx smartphone will be available in the UK next month. The handset is almost identical to the Razr which Motorola launched last year but with an increased battery life. The Razr Maxx will be available in mid-May from retailers such as Clove and Amazon for £430. Victoria McManus, UK marketing director at Motorola said: "Since we re-imagined the iconic Razr brand, the Motorola Razr has wowed consumers across the globe by combining the pinnacle of design with mind-blowing power,"
PC Advisor

Amazon Sales Grow 34% While Profits Drop 35%
Jeff Bezos, CEO and founder of Amazon, has reported $13.18 billion (£8.15bn) net sales for the online retail giant which represents a 34 percent increase over the same period in 2011. However Bezos also reported that profit was down by 35 percent to $130m in the quarter, compared to $210m in the same period last year. While the drop in net income will worry some, the results were ahead of Wall Street predictions and were a positive for Amazon following a relatively disappointing previous quarter. The drop in profits was down to aggressive spending as the company continues the expansion of its business.
International Business Times

Labour MPs support "opt-in" system for online porn to protect children
The system would block adults from accessing sexual content online unless they asked their internet provider to allow it. A cross-party group of MPs last week said internet service providers should adopt the “opt-in” feature, amid fears that easy access to pornography would damage children’s attitudes to relationships. Last night Jenny Chapman, the shadow minister for justice, and Helen Goodman, the shadow minister for culture, media and sport, pledged their support.
The Telegraph

O2 launches mobile money service under financial services 'passport' rules
Mobile network O2 has launched a new mobile 'wallet' service that will enable customers to transfer money to friends, pay for goods and services and take advantage of discount offers. Users can utilise the O2 Wallet service by downloading a free application to their smartphones or use a 'Money Messages' function on other devices that provide the user with internet access. Money can be loaded on to physical and virtual cards through a variety of means, including at dedicated 'epay' outlets, while discount offers can also be accessed through the service, the company said in a statement.
Out-Law

Samsung outstrips Apple smartphone sales to ring up record profit
A surge in Galaxy smartphone sales fuelled earnings at Samsung Electronics to a record high in the first quarter, usually a tough season for the global consumer electronics industry, outshining handset rivals such as Nokia. Samsung sold more smartphones in the first three months of the year than Apple and raked in more than 70% of its operating profit from mobile businesses. Shares in Samsung shot up nearly 3%.
The Guardian

Google-Oracle trial: Android revenues revealed
Google projected back in October 2010 it would get more than 35 per cent of its 2013 revenue from outside its search operation, anticipating that three non-search businesses – including e-commerce – would generate more than $5bn (£3bn) each, according to internal company documents filed in court.
The Guardian

Samsung’s Next Galaxy will be HD and quad core
Samsung’s hotly anticipated ‘Next Galaxy’ mobile phone will contain a faster, more efficient processor that allows 1080P HD playback and recording, the manufacturer has confirmed. The new, quad-core ‘Exynos 4 Quad’ chip also claims to offer 20 per cent improvements in power consumption over previous models while being twice as powerful.
The Daily Telegraph

FCC approves AT&T’s spectrum transfer to T-Mobile
US authority The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) has approved the transfer of $1bn worth of radio spectrum from AT&T to T-Mobile USA as part of the break-up fee owed following AT&T’s failed $39bn takeover bid. This transfer provides T-Mobile with a large package of AWS mobile spectrum in 128 Cellular Market Areas (CMAs), including 12 of the top 20 markets.
Telecoms.com

Ericsson reveals Q1 profit rise
Weak demand for new network capacity did not prevent Ericsson from boosting its profits in the first quarter of this year. The telecoms giant doubled its net income between January and March to €979 million from €461 million during the same period last year. Although the company reported a net profit improvement, sales within its networks division fell by 18 per cent in the first quarter. It revealed that greater demand for network modernisation offset weak demand for new capacity in countries in Europe and the US.
European Communications

Think tanks predict enormous boom in machine to machine comms
Ignoring the threat of Skynet and the inevitable Judgement Day it brings about, a report from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is predicting that Machine to Machine (M2M) communication is approaching a tipping point. The EIU's opinion is that M2M communication will offer a way to drastically change the way in which critical services are delivered over the next ten years, touching on topics from healthcare, to transport, to energy. The barriers in the way, according to the EIU, are the technical complexities involved and "regulatory hurdles" that act as a blockade for the next wave of innovation in M2M.
TechEye

Thailand close to finalising 3G auction process
After a well-documented series of delays, Thailand is finally holding auctions for 3G spectrum later this year. The country’s regulator, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), will finalise the terms of the process by the end of April and reveal the opening bid by the following month.
Developing Telecoms

PlayStation 4 Orbis release date, graphics and specs news
The stakes couldn't be higher for Sony's PlayStation 4. The original PlayStation set a ballsy precedent, doing away with cartridges. The PS2 threw Sonic and his Dreamcast pals under a truck, forcing Sega out of the console game for good. But the PS3 and its hardcore gaming attitude wasn't prepared for the family gaming revolution that was to come. Its high price led more parents to buy their favourite sprog a Nintendo Wii, and many traditional gamers were enticed by the ever-improving Microsoft Xbox line-up.
CNET UK

Google's first Android prototype smartphone was a Blackberry rip off
The ongoing court battle between Google and Oracle has unearthed another gem, as Google has revealed its first Android prototype smartphone from 2006. The phone pictured was a prototype for a "Google Mass Market Phone", and it shows that the internet search giant planned to launch a device with a style similar to that of its rival Reseach in Motion's Blackberry. The image shows that the previously unseen smartphone would have launched with a portrait QWERTY keypad and a landscape screen on top, not dissimilar to a Blackberry built by Research In Motion.
the INQUIRER

Intel tipped by itself to be big on phones
Intel has announced a glorious five year plan which it thinks will make it huge in the mobile market.
Intel told Bloomberg that it will become a "big player" in the market over the next five years. That is fighting talk, given that for the last ten years it has not been able to do it. Chief Financial Officer Stacy Smith said that Intel doesn't go into markets to be a small player and there is a lot of opportunity in the mobile market.
TechEye

Opera retires Unite, widgets in latest browser cut
Opera made the latest version of the its desktop browser available this morning in a beta release. Old hands may notice a few things missing in version 12.0. Voice-control support in the user interface has been axed, along with Opera Unite and widgets. The browser company wants developers to use the extensions API instead.
The Register